PM Modi to inaugurate JNPT’s fourth terminal, off Mumbai coast, tomorrow

The first phase of the fourth terminal will add a capacity of 24 lakh containers per year; expected to boost country’s exports

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), India’s largest container port off Mumbai’s eastern coast, is set to double its container-handling capacity with the addition of its fourth terminal, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

The first phase of the fourth container terminal was completed in record time. (HT File Photo/ Used for representational purpose only)

Modi had laid the foundation stone for it in October 2015.

The first phase of the fourth container terminal (FCT) was completed in record time, and will add a capacity of 24 lakh containers per year; after the completion of phase 2 in 2022, the port’s capacity will rise to 100 lakh containers per year.

The FCT, christened Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal, has been developed on a Design, Built, Fund, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis for a concession period of 30 years, at an estimated cost of Rs7,915 crore. It has been developed by Singapore’s PSA International Pte Ltd.

Gopal Krishna, secretary, shipping, government of India, said: “We need more value addition in export. Only building ports will not help. We have many ports in the country. Container ports are required.”

Krishna said the fourth container terminal at JNPT “is the first of its kind in the country”. “It will deal mostly in containers and very less liquid cargo. It will give a boost to India’s exports.”

Neeraj Bansal, deputy chairman of JNPT, said it is the busiest port in the country. “The new terminal will be able to dock mother vessels, handle the biggest of container ships with a quay length of one km, and cranes that can reach 22 rows wide or more,” he explained.

Bansal said the terminal would be linked to the dedicated rail freight corridor and will be able to receive around 350 containers per rake. “The facility will also have a provision to store 1,600 refrigerated containers, to handle agriculture and horticulture produce,” he said. “All of this will give a great boost to the economy and help in port-led industrialisation in Maharashtra.”